Thank
you for your thought provoking letter put on my car outside Blarney Bible Church
today. Although addressed to Craig Ledbetter you have placed your views on each
of our car’s, and for that reason I hope you will accept my right of reply, as
my views differ from yours.

It is
true that the view that our church takes differs from that of the Catholic
Church, but it is a view I whole-heartily believe is backed up by the word of
God as proclaimed in the Bible. I say this not to anger you, but out of a belief
that I have arrived at, through much study of the word of God over the years.
‘Study to show yourself approved of God rightly dividing the word of God.’
My story that led me to Christ is given under testimonials on the website www.biblebc.com
.

You
make the point that we are all sinful and weak human beings, a statement I again
agree with and will go further to state that Christ said “ There is not one
righteous no not one” and that “we all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God”. However in relation to our differences over the view that the
Catholic Church takes in relation to how someone attains salvation, I believe
along with other Born again Christians, that true salvation could be missed by
the Catholic church’s teaching. It is for that reason that we have to take a
clear stand as I am concerned about my friends, neighbours, and family.

You may
remember in the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians he also took a
stand urging the true Christians to‘come
out from among them and be ye different’. Sometimes when we feel strongly
about something we stress this with the same degree of reproach as Paul did, and
this may seem like a strange evangelisation approach. But it is an approach I
believe backed up by Christ, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth:
I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance
against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law
against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own
household.” (Matthew 10:34-36).Because often when one stands for what one
truly believes it costs. It would be very easy to attract people to a Church by
agreeing with them and adjusting one’s views so that it fits with theirs, but
not to win them to Christ.

For
instance you mention that we take an offensive on the Catholic Church by
pointing out the discrepancies between the commandments as set out in Exodus and
that taught in School Catechisms and then point out that there is no difference
between the Commandments in our Bible and yours. If I can deal with the first
point first; there is a difference taught by the Catechism as the second
commandment with reference to bowing down to and worshiping images has been
removed. You are right to say that it is still in your Bible, but the Catechism
is where most Catholics get their doctrine, instead of from the Bible.

The
point you make about Catholics not having to pay homage to statues and images I
find strange, because having attended sermonises and funerals in the Catholic
Church (My wife is an ex Catholic, now Born again) I have witnessed people
bowing down before statues, even bowing before they enter their seats. I have
also witnessed Catholics bowingbefore
statues in their gardens and saying prayers before them. You stress that this is
only an image to help you as an aid to prayer but this is a contradiction of the
word of God, because he definitely rejects such aids in the second
commandment…’or the likeness of such’. You also stress that the same
Sunday Gospel is read in both Catholic and Anglican Churches throughout the
world.This I would have to differ
on because if 90% is the same and 10% is different, it is not the same,
especially if the changed 10% turns upside down the real reason why Jesus came
to Earth and died on the cross. Although certain wayward Anglican Churches are
bending to compromise for sake of popularity.

In
relation to the Rosary and Mary, I must confess I do find it a mystery why Mary
is worshipped in such a high degree, taking from the worship of Jesus. Yes
blessed was the fruit of her womb, and blessed was she among woman to be chosen
to bear the son of God. If you were chosen you would also be blessed among
woman. But it is Jesus who should be worshiped, indeed Mary called him her Lord
and Saviour, because she too needed a Saviour. Apart from it being wrong to
focus attention on Mary, repetitive prayer is also wrong, so when you say
“Hail Mary Mother of God, blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus” over and
over the Bible states that this is wrong - “But when ye pray, use not vain
repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for
their much speaking.” (Matthew 6:7). I believe the devil has been very subtle,
like when he deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden on this one, because he takes
the focus away from Jesus with the apparitions of Mary. Do you know that when
Mirjana Dragicevic one of the Medjegori visionaries first saw the vision of
Mary, it was preceded by the vision of the devil. I quote from her words: “ he
was ugly, horribly ugly you cannot imagine how ugly, he almost killed me with
his gaze, I almost fainted. The Satan went away and our Lady came…”. The
Bible warns us that the devil can take many forms even as the angel of light.
The Bible also warns that such visions will deceive many. Further enforced when
one considers what is taking place in Fathma, Lourdes, Ballinspital, including
Knock, visited by John Paul the second.

I also
would take issue with the Catholic Church in regard to traditions, as it is the
traditions of the Church that have unfolded the Church’s teaching, rather than
the gospel of Christ being the finished work. We are warned in Revelation not to
add to the word of God (Revelation 22:18,19). So where in the word of God does
the assumption of Mary come from as accepted in 1950. Where does the immaculate
conception of Mary (not Jesus) come from as accepted 1854. Where does purgatory
come from as accepted in the year 593, not to mention the recent acceptance of
the infallibility of the Pope and many more.

I am
again confused when you state that the Catholic Church does not continually
sacrifice. Is it not the teaching of the Catholic Church that you believe that
the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Jesus at the moment of
consecration in the mass? If the answer is yes, surely each time you have
communion you are sacrificing him (killing Him). On the other hand if you
believe as I do that the bread and wine are only symbols of his body and it is
taken in remembrance of what he did for believers, it is not re-sacrifice, or
even continuance of the sacrifice.

Some
of my comments may have made you angry. There is a lot of layers to peal back
that Satan has been active in covering over the years. I have enclosed a video
on ‘Catholicism Crises of Faith’. It is presented by an ex-priest who became
a born again Christian, John McCarthy.

You
may still have questions after watching it. If there is anything you disagree
with please keep in touch. I believe in the truth if there is anything wrong it
should be put right, if it is not wrong it should be accepted no matter how
difficult or what the cost in this world, because there is no cost or trouble in
this world worth losing your soul in the next for.